ABSTRACT. One challenge in facing the application of biomedical Raman spectroscopy is that the Raman signal is acquired in a dark operation room. It is inconvenient for both the operator and the patient because it is difficult for the operator to accurately and precisely locate the target in the dark ...

The features of the tremor in essential tremor are often not fully appreciated, and essential tremor is frequently mis-diagnosed. Close inspection indicates that the tremor is characterized by a specific and definable pattern of features. Recognizing these features will aid in the diagnosis. The features are as follows: (1) kinetic ...

The quantitative difference of the light reflected from a skin surface can be analyzed using parallel-polarized light (PPL) photography when combined with an analytic technique similar to colorimetric photography. To improve the PPL photography technique as an assessment tool for the evaluation of skin condition using light-emitting diodes (LED) of ...

Vigabatrin (VGB), a treatment for the childhood epilepsy, infantile spasms (IS), is implicated in visual field constriction. Electroretinograms (ERGs) are used as a substitute for visual field testing in infants. We use the VGB-associated ERG reduction (VAER), defined as reduction in age-corrected light adapted 30 Hz flicker amplitude from a pre-treatment ...

Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis causes neurological symptoms due to neural compression. Lumbar laminectomy is a commonly used treatment for symptomatic degenerative spinal stenosis. However, it is unknown if and to what extent single level laminectomy affects the range of motion and stiffness of treated and adjacent segments. An increase in ...

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) are currently considered a diagnostic tool for studying the vestibular system, specifically the saccule and inferior vestibular nerve. This prospective study aimed at evaluating the impact of patient position and type of acoustic stimulus on VEMPs results using 60 healthy subjects who underwent otoscopy, pure ...

The sensitivity of prediction of acoustic reflex, in determining the level of hearing loss, is especially useful in paediatric populations. It is based on the difference between the pure tone stapedius reflex threshold and contralateral white noise. The white noise threshold was 60dB and that of pure tone was 80dB. ...

Mounting evidence now shows that fishing activity modifies both heritable life-history traits and ecological processes in harvested populations. However, ecological and evolutionary changes are intimately linked and can occur on the same time scale, and few studies have investigated their combined effect on fish population dynamics. Here, we contrast two ...

Song Hongxin H Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, New - - 2014

IMPORTANCE Fundus albipunctatus (FA) is a form of congenital stationary night blindness characterized by yellow-white spots, which were classically described as subretinal. Although night blindness and delayed dark adaptation are hallmarks of this condition, recent studies have described a macular phenotype, particularly among older patients. Using a fluorescence adaptive optics ...

Enhanced low-level perception, although present in individuals with autism, is not seen in individuals with high, but non-clinical, levels of autistic traits (Brock et al.in Percept Lond 40(6):739. doi: 10.1068/p6953 , 2011). This is surprising, as many of the higher-level visual differences found in autism have been shown to correlate ...

Enhanced photic driving (PD) during high-frequency flicker stimulation, the so-called H response, is a classical feature of migraine patients between attacks, but is thought to be of poor clinical utility. Visual inspection of the EEG for its detection may not be reliable, however, data on its possible correlations with clinical ...

Controlling movements of flexible arms is a challenging task for the octopus because of the virtually infinite number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) [1, 2]. Octopuses simplify this control by using stereotypical motion patterns that reduce the DOFs, in the control space, to a workable few [2]. These movements are ...

Theunissen Eleonoor A R EA Department of Head and Neck Oncology and Surgery, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The - - 2014

This study aimed to propose an ototoxicity grading system sensitive to the effect of ototoxicity on specific daily life situations like speech intelligibility and the perception of ultra-high sounds and to test its feasibility compared to current criteria. Pure tone averages (PTAs) for speech perception (1-2-4 kHz) and ultra-high frequencies ...

TAC-Cell is a custom-built somatosensory stimulator that delivers pneumatic cutaneous tactile inputs to virtually any skin target on the body and by virtue of its non-ferrous materials is compatible with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scanners. In this study, we describe the method to measure apparent ...

The capability to calibrate diagnostics, such as the Motional Stark Effect (MSE) diagnostic, without using plasma or beam-into-gas discharges will become increasingly important on next step fusion facilities due to machine availability and operational constraints. A robotic calibration system consisting of a motorized three-axis positioning system and a polarization light ...

The cause of the anomalous head posture (AHP) has been mainly assigned to ocular, orthopedic, and neurologic causes. The AHP can take the form of head tilt, face turn, chin up, chin down, or combined, depending on the specific etiology. However, there are many variations, and the type of the ...

Direction changing horizontal positional nystagmus can be observed in a variety of central and peripheral vestibular disorders. We tested sixty subjects with horizontal positional nystagmus and vertigo on the Epley Omniax(®) rotator. Monocular video recordings were performed with the right or left ear down, in the supine and prone positions. ...

Visual field testing uses high-contrast stimuli in areas of severe visual field loss. However, retinal ganglion cells saturate with high-contrast stimuli, suggesting that the probability of detecting perimetric stimuli may not increase indefinitely as contrast increases. Driven by this concept, this study examines the lower limit of perimetric sensitivity for ...

IMPORTANCE Clinical trials indicate that visual impairment is significantly greater in patients receiving ocriplasmin than placebo. The mechanism of this symptom has not been explained. We report a patient with persistent darkening of her vision after intravitreal ocriplasmin and describe ancillary testing findings that may yield insights into the effects ...

Rest-activity and sleep-wake cycles are controlled by the endogenous circadian rhythm generated by the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Degenerative changes in the SCN appear to be a biological basis for circadian disturbances in people with dementia, and might be reversed by stimulation of the SCN by light. The ...

In the last decade, the introduction of the serum-free light-chain (sFLC) assay has been an important advance in the diagnosis and management of plasma cell dyscrasias, particularly monoclonal light-chain diseases. The immunoassay was developed to detect free light chains in serum by using anti-FLC antibodies which specifically recognised epitopes on ...

Background and aim:In recent years, there has been an increased interest in recording high-quality electromyographic signals from within the sockets of lower-limb amputees. However, successful recording presents major challenges to both researchers and clinicians. This article details and compares four prototypical integrated socket-sensor designs used to record electromyographic signals from ...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the light-touch sensation of the oral mucosa in leprosy patients. A cross-sectional study included 228 adults, 133 being leprosy patients and 95 normal controls. To assess light-touch sensation, the five-filament standard Semmes-Weinstein kit in eight regions of the oral mucosa was used. ...

Rebound nystagmus is a transient nystagmus that occurs on resuming the straight-ahead position after prolonged eccentric gaze. Even though rebound nystagmus is commonly associated with gaze-evoked nystagmus (GEN), development of rebound nystagmus in a different plane of gaze has not been described. We report a patient with episodic ataxia type ...

Lyyra Pessi P Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland ; Human Information Processing Laboratory, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere, Tampere, - - 2014

Change blindness refers to the inability to detect visual changes if introduced together with an eye-movement, blink, flash of light, or with distracting stimuli. Evidence of implicit detection of changed visual features during change blindness has been reported in a number of studies using both behavioral and neurophysiological measurements. However, ...

Freezing of gait (FOG) is a common symptom in Parkinsonism, which affects the gait pattern and is associated to a fall risk. Automatized FOG episode detection would allow systematic assessment of patient state and objective evaluation of the clinical effects of treatments. Techniques have been proposed in the literature to ...

In photodynamic therapy (PDT) a photosensitizer - a molecule that is activated by light - is administered and exposed to a light source. This leads both to destruction of cells targeted by the particular type of photosensitizer, and immunomodulation. Given the ease with which photosensitizers and light can be delivered ...

We herein describe the case of a 77-year-old woman with acquired factor X deficiency that was likely caused by atypical amyloidosis. The patient developed severe gastrointestinal bleeding as a result of a significant decrease of factor X activity. Neither proteinuria nor diarrhea was observed as an initial manifestation. Although a ...

Because free light chain assays measure polyclonal as well as monoclonal free light chain components, some previous studies focused on the potential utility of the free light chain assay for detecting chronic immune stimulation, which occurs in autoimmune diseases and allergies. However, most of these trials have been limited to ...

Auditory hypersensitivities are a common feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the present study, the effectiveness of a novel intervention, the listening project protocol (LPP), was evaluated in two trials conducted with children diagnosed with ASD. LPP was developed to reduce auditory hypersensitivities. LPP is based on a theoretical ...

Patients often report greater visual difficulties at home than expected from vision testing in the clinic. Such discordance may be owing to worse vision in the home than measured in clinic. To compare vision measured between the clinic and home and evaluate factors, including lighting, associated with these differences. This ...

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of two novel light sources for large area and full body application, providing polychromatic, non-thermal photobiomodulation (PBM) for improving skin feeling and appearance. Background data: For non-thermal photorejuvenation, laser and LED light sources have been demonstrated ...

The serum free light chain (FLC) assay is an important tool in the management of patients with monoclonal gammopathies. MEDLINE®, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from January 2000 through July 2013, were used as data sources. The available evidence is rather ...

Human modalities play a vital role in the way the brain produces mental representations of the world around us. Although congenital blindness limits the understanding of the environment in some aspects, blind individuals may have other superior capabilities from long-term experience and neural plasticity. This study investigated the effects of ...

Time-dependent deformation of porcine skin was studied in vitro using specialized microprobe instruments. The deformation behavior of stratum corneum, dermis, and whole skin is examined in the context of results of creep strain, elastic stiffness, and viscoelastic constants obtained in terms of the hold time, loading/unloading rate, and maximum indentation ...

Korenbrot Juan I JI Departments of Ophthalmology and Physiology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, Albert Eye Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, and Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon - - 2013

The ligand sensitivity of cGMP-gated (CNG) ion channels in cone photoreceptors is modulated by CNG-modulin, a Ca(2+)-binding protein. We investigated the functional role of CNG-modulin in phototransduction in vivo in morpholino-mediated gene knockdown zebrafish. Through comparative genomic analysis, we identified the orthologue gene of CNG-modulin in zebrafish, eml1, an ancient ...

To develop an optimization algorithm for volumetric modulated arc therapy which incorporates an electromagnetic tracking (EMT) guided gating strategy and is robust to residual intra-fractional motion uncertainties. In a computer simulation, intra-fractional motion traces from prior treatments with EMT were converted to a probability distribution function (PDF), truncated using a ...

Here, we examined sensitivity of visual, auditory, and audiovisual temporal order in five age-groups (20 to 70 years old). We also measured multisensory integration (MSI) using a phenomenon known as "temporal ventriloquism," in which click sounds improve sensitivity of visual temporal order. Results showed that sensitivity of visual, auditory, and audiovisual ...

This study examined the ability of click auditory brainstem response (ABR) undertaken below the age of 6 months (from expected date of delivery) to differentiate between conductive and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), using the latency of wave V measured 20 dB above threshold. Subjects were recruited if they had an ...

The study aimed to evaluate the levels of serum free kappa (κ) and lambda (λ) light chains in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as well as exploring the association between serum free κ and λ light chains and activity of RA. For this purpose, healthy individuals and patients with active RA ...